Haas wins Masters Series at Stuttgart

STUTTGART, Germany, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Tommy Haas put an end to Belarussian qualifier Max Mirnyi's amazing run Sunday and won his second straight title at the $2.95 million Tennis Masters Series event in Stuttgart.

Backed by a strong local following all week, Haas eased past Mirnyi, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, for his fourth tournament victory of the year.

"This was my nicest victory because I like playing in Germany," said Haas, who was the first German to capture this event since Boris Becker won in 1996. "I really wanted to play well before a home crowd."

The 24-year-old Mirnyi came into this event having never won an ATP singles title and ranked No. 53 in the 2001 Champions Race, but knocked off top-ranked Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, tennis great Pete Sampras, and Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic.

Mirnyi had 27 unforced errors to eight for the 15th-seeded Haas and could not compensate when his big serve was off. He had 11 aces but won just 26 percent of his second-service points.

Haas fired nine aces with just one double fault, won 87 percent of his first-service points and 68 percent on his second delivery. He never faced a break point and converted on 6-of-10 chances against Mirnyi's serve.

The 23-year-old Haas earned $434,000 for his biggest career triumph. He claimed the CA Tennis Trophy last week and the AAPT Championships and Hamlet Cup earlier in the year.

Sunday's victory bumped Haas into the seventh spot in the Champions Race and closer to qualifying for the season-ending Masters Cup in Sydney, Australia.